India’s chase of 147 in the final Test match of the series against New Zealand arrives as a must-win scenario for Rohit Sharma and his men, with the hosts trying to stave off a whitewash loss at home at the Wankhede Stadium.
However, it was a nightmare start to the innings for India as the team lost five wickets for 29 runs, within the first seven overs of the innings, leaving the crowd in stunned silence and the coaching staff unsure of how to react to the situation.
The third wicket was Virat Kohli, who departed for 1 after Ajaz Patel found his outside edge, Daryl Mitchell completing the formalities in the slips with a good low catch and the Kiwis audibly elated at the massive wicket.
Following Kohli’s dismissal and Rishabh Pant’s arrival to the crease, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir could be seen looking speechless and deeply concerned at the morning’s proceedings, with wickets tumbling in India’s top order and a now-familiar story of India finding themselves in trouble with the bat in this series.
India, Gambhir on brink of humiliating home whitewash
India stand at risk of being whitewashed at home for the first time since 2000, when Hansie Cronje’s South African team beat India 2-0 in a two-match series. Gambhir, is only his second Test series as head coach, stands at risk of achieving an unwanted milestone early in his career.
Early in the innings, Rohit Sharma was the first wicket to fall in the morning of India’s chase, as he looked to hook Matt Henry and miscued it straight into the air. In the second of two fairly soft dismissals, Shubman Gill was next to go, shouldering arms against Ajaz Patel on a delivery that went straight on and knocked over his stumps.
India would still have felt fairly confident with Kohli and Jaiswal at the crease, but Kohli’s dismissal put the entire Mumbai crowd in a concerned silence, and Jaiswal was gone soon after, judged LBW.
Sarfaraz Khan was the latest to depart, on just his second ball, as he swept a full toss right to a boundary rider at square leg to be dismissed in a strange fashion. Rishabh Pant remains at the crease, joined by Ravindra Jadeja, and with Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin the all-rounders and recognised batters still to come.
